Not A Doubt
by Sticky Wins
Summary: After the death of his father, Gibari is banished to Nashira. Here, he is left to question Ladekhan's motives, and grapples with it in a form he best understands- swordplay. BROTHERLY LOVE, NOT SLASH. K for, like, two swear words. Oneshot.


**Author's Note;** Wow, it's been a while since I've been here. I'm a lot less suckish nowadays, I think. But that's for you all to decide. 8D

I wrote this because I really loved the whole relationship with Gibari and Ladekhan. As I thought about their characters, I realized how pissed of Gibari must have been when Ladekhan sent him away, because Gibari's a little pigheaded and most likely didn't immediately see his reasoning. Then I thought it would be interesting if Gibari figured it out by associating Ledekhan's methods with swordplay. So here's this cute little oneshot.

There is NO pairing being implied here. I see their relationship as purely brotherly. Though, if you _really_ like that pairing so much, you can go right ahead and interpret it as you wish.

PS- Excuse any typos. I'm a very poor proofreader.

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The familiar fishy musk greeted Gibari as he forced himself awake. Both hands resting beneath his head, he gazed blankly at the ceiling. Back in Nashira, day four. He heaved a sigh and sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes and letting out a lazy yawn.

It was his fourth day back in Nashira, which meant it had been four days since the loss of his father. Rambari had told him not to cry, so he hadn't since returning to the fishing village, but Gibari couldn't shake the annoying, troubling sense of loneliness. His father had been more of a drill sergeant than a parent for a majority of Gibari's life. But there was never a moment were Gibari doubted that his father cared for him, or Ladekhan.

Then thoughts of his friend flooded his mind. Gibari cursed mentally, frowning deeply.

"What the hell, Kahn." Gibari lost the will to sit up straight and fell back onto his cot, to stare at the boring wooden ceiling. Right after losing his father, when he wanted to protect the ones he cared for the most, his best friend had banished him to Nashira. A burning anger reignited deep in Gibari's breast. Not only was he weighed down by his silently mourning the loss of his father, Gibari felt clouded by a feeling of betrayal. How _could_ he? Kahn _knew_ Gibari hated being a prisoner of any kind. He hated being tied down, especially when those he loved, when the kingdom he lived in was endangered. It was a smothering feeling, suffocating him. His best friend, his brother, was suffocating him. And Gibari couldn't understand why.

Heaving another heavy sigh Gibari turned to his side, facing the rest of his small bedroom. It was all made of wood, with very little on the walls. If he thought hard enough, that wood would turn into the beautiful marble walls of the palace and he would be back with Khan. They would be training right about now, where his father alive and were he still at the palace.

Khan had hallways been weird. Gibari never really understood him, even though they were like brothers. Even when they were sparring with Rambari, Khan had an odd way of doing things. One particular drill involved protecting a big sandbag, which Rambari called "the Comrade." The goal was to hold Rambari off for 2 whole minutes, all the while protecting the Comrade. It took Gibari a while to succeed. He would stand, planted and ready to face whatever blows his father would deal him. Gibari hardly moved during this drill, doing what he could to stay in front of the Comrade. But in the end, Rambari would knock his son on the ground and end the drill with a final smack of his sword on the Comrade, scowling down at Gibari.

"Your Comrade just died." He'd say. Again and again Gibari tried this method, and eventually he got strong enough to stay planted as a human shield for the Comrade. Gibari didn't like how long this drill took, but he figured it was meant to build up brute strength, so it was meant to take a while.

Ladekhan, however, had a different way of going about the Comrade drill. As soon as the drill began, Ladekhan would wind up and thwack the Comrade across the courtyard. Without having to worry about standing directly in front of the Comrade, the boy-king easily held his own with Rambari for two minutes. Rambari laughed and congratulated Khan on passing so quickly. Gibari had felt a little dumb. Why hadn't he thought of that? It seemed like a simple solution.

But when they repeated the drill, Gibari decided not to attempt Khan's method- he didn't like the feeling of separating himself from the Comrade. Had the floppy sandbag actually been a comrade, Gibari would worry about parting with it. What if someone else got to it? What if the Comrade needed help, and he was not there to aid it? So instead, Gibari worked on perfecting his human shield method, building up strength as best he could.

Then Gibari's memory clouded mind came upon something. Khan's method was, to him, strange and too risky, but didn't it work just as well, if not better than his plan to shield? If Khan were to try and shield the Comrade, he would surely fail, as his build was slighter than Gibari's or his father's. Even if he trained his strength like Gibari did, Ladekhan could most likely be overpowered. There was no telling when his physical strength would fail him.

"Oh…" Gibari muttered aloud, and suddenly a realization came to mind. He was the Comrade, and he'd just been tossed across the courtyard. It kind of sucked. No, it actually really sucked. Gibari wouldn't be rid of the anger towards his friend. But his heart softened. Khan hadn't been trying to piss him off or make him feel like a prisoner, like a weakling. He was just dealing with things in that weird, indirect way of his.

Gibari returned to his back, looking back up at the ceiling. "Hey, Khan." He said to himself, imagining his friend in his head. "I'm still pissed off over here, you know." In his head, Ladekhan nodded and laughed, _when aren't you pissed off?_ He'd say. "But you don't have to worry about all that. I won't be like dad… Just wait," Gibari held a tanned arm above him, looking at how young and weak it looked. He clenched his fist and smiled. "Soon I'll be so strong, you won't have to worry about that at all." Ladekhan would give him a dubious look, before grinning with confidence.

_There's not a doubt in my mind, Gib._

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**Author's Note;** May I just say, Gib is one of the dumbest nicknames I've ever heard. XD I think the writers just decided they both _really_ needed to call each other by shortened versions of their name, because that apparently is indicative of close friendship. LOL WHATEVERR.

Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed this. Please, if you would be so kind as to drop me a review, that would be lovely. I'm out of practice with fanfictions, so any criticism is more than welcome. Thanks!

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